


The Salty Skull Crew

by Renaldoso



Category: Neopets
Genre: Neopets - Freeform, pirate
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-26
Updated: 2018-10-08
Packaged: 2019-07-14 16:01:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16043783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Renaldoso/pseuds/Renaldoso
Summary: This is just a fun little project for me while I go and recapture the nostalgia of Neopets. No romance, no swearing, and just a fun little origin story for my pets. Not really anything else besides something fun for me and felt like sharing the story as I post it.





	1. Prologue: The Story of the Salted Skulls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter will be the prologue to the story.

“Gather round lads and lasses!” a Lupe cried from the top of the bar, “For it is time for the story of the tale of the saltiest Eyrie to ever walk the sands of our fair island!”

A crowd of small Neopets began to form around the Lupe, many of which were small children who worked the docks and swabbed the decks of the ships for doubloons and scraps, along with a few of the crew members of different ships and captains who listened from their tables.

The blue fur on the loop stuck together from salt and poor grooming but still seemed to show the age of him as he sat down on top of the counter and grinned a toothy grin, “Now they say that Alexander the Clever was as salty as the sea that created him. One who knew the ins and outs of almost any ship and all the ways to sink'em, but he was not always so clever.” A few of the children scooted in closer to listen and a small Kau whose horns were barely the size of two doubloons put together leaned in close, “Aye the man could barter a dagger for a sword then the sword for a crown. But he also had a weakness… The man could not speak.”

A few children looked puzzled at the Lupe and a few raised their hand, “How could a pirate who couldn’t speak be cleaver?” a small Uni with a red coat asked, “And how could he barter?” came another voice from the back. A smirk replaced the toothy grin as the Lupe reached into his pocket and pulled out a bottle of swirling blue and purple liquid, “Well then, why don’t I show you all how the seas gave us the Salted Skulls.” He uncorked the potion and a mysterious haze began to fill the counter as it took shape.


	2. chapter 1: They Meet

From the shores of Krawk Island, many believed that the seas were a gifted mother and a traitorous maiden whos soft waves could lift you up or pull you under depending on how you treat them. Some would leave gifts of gold and doubloons on the shores just before a long voyage as a hope of having the rotting wood of poor ships blessed for safe travels while others preyed on their gifts for an easy payday. But still, one thing was sure is that those who were found washed up on the shores of the island and still breathed could be considered blessed by the ocean herself. 

Across the beach, a smallish Gerelt, barely standing the height of two buckets, walked with heavy bags on her back. She picked up empty cans and rotted food and placed them in the bag, “Another mans trash, is another women's compost,” she mumbled picking up an almost black apple core and putting it in the bag, “I should pick up some toothpaste on the way back…” 

As she walked a long piece of what looked to be blue string stuck out of the sand and she rolled her eyes, “I say these sailers no not how to care for the beaches they so, desperately love.” She mocked biting into the string.

“CAW!” came a screech from under the sand as the body of a blue Eyrie jumped from the sand and wings extended outwards, “PIP!!!” 

It cried once more until a big gust of wind picked the wings up and pushed him high as the Gelert whose teeth held the tail let go to gasp from fright. The Eyrie was lifted almost forty feet into the air as it cried out in different pitches of caws. The Gelert dropped her bags and sprinting after the airborne pet, “Hang on!” she cried out kicking up sand as she ran, “Why aren’t you closing your wings!”

 

The Eyrie tried clapping his wings in a futile attempt at flight as more of the salty sea winds picked him up higher and higher into the sky. It took almost ten minutes of screaming from the Gelert before the Eyrie closed his wings around him like a cacoon as he began to plummet towards the earth at an alarming rate. She took a heavy deep breath before scrunching her body together and springing into the air to wrap her arms around the Eyrie before coming colliding with the earth and tumbling in the sand. It was another minute before the Gelert let out a pained exhale and blinking sand out of her eyes did she rise, “Well at least Nothing is bro- oh my gosh?!” she exclaimed.

 

As the last of the sand left her eyes she saw the Eyrie in full and the size of his wings. They seemed to almost be the size of her body, maybe even bigger, but that isn’t what caused her exclamation. It was the fact that the wings seemed to be almost uncomfortable curved, like a piece of spring trying to be pulled down enough times that it gets stuck. She watched for a moment as the Eyries eyes opened and he watched her with both curiosity and caution, “Pip…” the noise seemed to be like a silent piano key.

 

“Umm is that your name?” the Gelerts tail pushing small mounds of sand to one side as she sat up, “Is it Pip?”

 

The Eyrie shook his head, “Caw!” he screamed and tried extending his wings but quickly retracted them back into the heavy curved arches, “Caw! Caw!” the screams began to rise in volume until the Gelert reached her paw up and closed it around his beak. He continued to try and make fowl noises again and she quickly wrapped her other paw around the first trying to silence him.

 

It took a moment before the winged creature stopped stirring and silenced his noises, “Now when I remove my paws, you start making sense okay?”

 

The Eyrie shook his head slowly watching her. She nodded back and gently removed her paws, “Now where are you-“

 

“Caw!” he cried out as stood on his legs. She stood and began walking away to her bags and picked them up, “That’s it! I try to do one good thing before I leave this island and instead I get screamed at by a local!”  
She huffed beginning to walk away from the ocean but was stopped as something pulled her tail. She whipped her head back to see the Eyrie digging his back paws into the ground while the others pulled the thin tail. He looked almost panicked as he began to caw again but removed a hand to point towards the ocean, “Caw!” he screamed, “Caw! Pip!” 

 

The Gelert turned her head, “The ocean?” she questioned, “but you don’t have gills and you aren’t painted-“

 

She turned to face him to push the question further when he clasped his paws around her snout. She clenched her teeth but nodded to him and he nodded back before releasing her, “Okay tell me then.” The ocean began to push waves forward and catch the Eyries tail and he looked back to see it recede. He sat on his hind legs and pulled his wings around him like a cacoon again and peeked an eye through the opening at her, “Okay so you were I don’t know, incased, protected, concealed.” His face lit up and he pointed at her nodding, “Okay concealed but that doesn’t explain how you survived, your wings look practically in pristine condition, not a single sea rotted scab and the feathers are not discolored or matted from the salt.” 

 

A few moments passed and once again the wave pushed up and wrapped around the hind legs. He looked down and his eyes widened, “CAW!” he screeched pointing to the sea foam and quickly stood chasing it as the waves went back into the ocean, “CAW! CAW! CA-“ he kept crying as he looked back at the Gelert only to have the massive wings on his back dip down and as he took a step his paw landed on the bottom of the wing leading to him slipping and landing face first into the salty water and wet sand. A concoction of gritty salt filled his beak and he began to spit and rake his tongue with his paws trying to get the taste out of his mouth only to fail and sent a wave of hysterical laughter to the Gelert as she clenched her stomach. The Eyrie looked annoyed but gained a sort of wicked smile as he flicked a wing full of wet sand onto the Gelert. She gasped as cold sand slapped against her and she looked annoyed, “For someone who got more vocabulary than a Bubble Mote, you sure-“ 

 

Her words once again cut off as the Eyrie launched himself at her and clasped his paws around her snout again and nodded with enough speed it looked like he was a novelty bobblehead. She pushed his paws off and spat a bit of sand, “What is wrong with you…bubble…brain… You were in a bubble?” her words trailed off as she sat up, “That is how you came from the sea, a bubble.”

 

The Eyrie nodded again standing up and did what could only be described as a little dance as he pointed to the ocean again. She watched for a moment but stood, “Well, if you really are from the sea, which I doubt, then I guess the harbor folk would be able to tell what boat you fell off of.” She began to walk again with bags of litter in tow towards the town but stopped short as she saw the feathered beast sitting on the sand, “Well? Aren’t you coming?”

 

For a moment he sat on the sand dumbfounded but quickly stood and trotted up next to the Gelert but knocked her a bit to the side with his wings. She rolled her eyes as she began to walk next to him, “Either you are going to grow into those things or gonna need something to hold them up while you walk next to other or knocking over the wrong person will be the least of your worries.” Her comment seemed to stump the Eyrie but she marched forward with the large feathered beast at the side, “Let's see if we can find out who you are Mister Bubble bird.”


	3. The Ship Doctor

Hours. It had been hours since the beach sand had left the set of paws of the two strangers and yet even with every passing pet and set of almost rehearsed questions, no one knew who the bird noise spitting Eyrie was. It was after an almost unnerving conversation with a Mynci who was displeased how the Gelert left him to rejoin the massive winged Eyrie who was holding his wings up to stay out of other passing pets way, “I think we have talked to every pet who has even stepped foot on a boat, and no one knows who you are.” Her words dropped as she watched the Eyrie uncomfortable shift in his place with the wings still raised, “Do they bother you that much?”

He clicked his beak slightly trying to make words before exhaling heavily as the wings came crashing to the ground. It looked as if the wings were weighing him down this whole time as they walked and the sheer size of them had almost knocked over a few shop displays. It was with a heavy sign that the Gelert began to rummage through her bags, “Well whoever you are, there has got to be a better solution to your wings.” She pulled out a red and white polka dot cloth and stretched it, “Get over here bubble bird.”

The Eyrie dragged his wings over and towered over the Gelert. He watched as she wrapped the cloth around his massive body and put the wings close to his body but as she tied a tight knot around him, keeping the wings close to his back and off the ground, she stopped noticing a semi-large patch of missing fur that is lined with black and green gel. Hesitantly she lifted a paw and touched it to which the Eyrie let out a bellowing cry that seemed to shake the ocean. He jumped back and laid down removing access to the wound as he watched the Gelerts movement, “Oh I’m so sorry!” she snapped raising her paws to her snout, “I didn’t know it hurt that much, we should get that check, maybe take a break from searching. I know of a doctor on the ship I am to the board!”

She rose with excitement to which the Eyrie hesitantly followed. The two walked with haste past ship workers and performers as a large ship with white and green sails sat in the harbor and competed with that of the large pirate ship with black sails. The Gelert smiled gleefully as she held up a small metal disc with a yellow four pointed star and showed it to a large Grarrl who smiled and stepped aside, “Come on, the ship’s doctor is amazing!” she grinned back at the Eyrie who boarded after her with a lowered head, “Doctor! I brought you a patient!” Her voice carried across the ship as a Hissi with dark scales turned and sighed, “Another stray from the port, honestly Mixtras if you bring me every pet with a bruise or paper cut this ship would be a tour boat.”

The Eyrie attempted to hind behind the Gelert with occasionally peeking over her head to look at him. The Hissi looked a bit annoyed before signing, “Is he going to say something or did you only bring him to here to annoy me?”

“That is the thing...” Mixtras started looking back at the Eyrie who gave a failed attempt of puffing his chest fur at the rude comment, “I found him almost buried in the sand also he can’t talk, can barely fly, and he has a nasty looking green gelled wound on his stomach”

There was a brief moment as the Hissi opened and shut his jaw before letting out a sigh. He motioned for the two to follow him below deck and the Gelert smiled motioning for the Eyrie to follow. Once below deck they made there a way to a large room filled with potions, boxes of herbs, and books with weird symbols and numbers on them, “You said a green gelled wound right?” the hissi asked reaching up and began twisting bottles to read the chicken scratch labels, “Sounds like algae eating away at the fur, very dangerous for our winged pets. Since they fly at such high altitudes they need the extra heat to stay warm.”

The Eyrie sat down on the floor looking around at the bottles and books as the Gelert began to grab the knot of the cloth around his wings, “There is also… One more thing doc…”

Tugging the string and letting his wings spread out into the heavy curved arches and sending a few notes and empty bottles to the floor the Hissi quickly turned to drop the fluorescent pink bottle in his hand as his jaw opened, “Well… No wonder he can’t fly.” He commented moving to look at the uncomfortable curved wings, “The poor lad, I have only seen this sort of curve in Draiks though. It is a condition, called Egg Wing.”

“Egg Wing?” the Gelert questioned looking at the Eyrie, “Do you think he drank a potion or something? I mean it's not uncommon for pets to change species but”

“No, it's unlikely. You see Transformed pets would usually have characteristics of previous forms. Say Grral turned to a Lupe. Then they would have much sharper teeth and more defined jaws,” The Hissi interrupted moving to pick up the pink potion and putting it back onto the desk before grabbing a folder full x-ray paper, “Ixi turned Moehog might still have marks on their foreheads from horns recessing back into skulls, If he was sawing a Draik who drank a potion it would be highly unlikely with lack of scale fur clashing which is common with that change. No, our young gentle bird is a pure Eyrie through and through.”

The Gelert looked over to the Eyrie who was still scanning the walls of goods and books, “You said something about Egg wing… Is it possible being encased in saw a bubble could cause the same effects?” She watched as the Eyrie pulled the wings flopped to the floor and the blue feathers stuck out against the dark wood of the boards of the ship, “Something airtight underwater?”

With a hum, the Hissi doctor pulled out a blue backed book and began flipping through it his wing stopping to read a passage before clicking his tongue and tossing the book aside and pulling another out. With great haste, the Gelert launched herself and caught the book before it came crashing to the ground and groaned as she felt her knee ache. Her eyes glared daggers at the Hissi who ignored her and threw another book over his shoulder, “Egg wing is a rare disorder that may occur in hatching Draiks, you see when one is born they are sent through a rapid growth spurt that launches there body to adulthood.” His words seemed to carry weight as he tossed more books over his shoulder searching the gibberish titles, “If the shell is stronger than the wings then it would cause a curve to form in the wings causing things like back problems or even wings that are unable to carry the Draik. However, the problem with our fine feathered friend isn’t the curve.”

The Gelert rolled on her back and slide herself back to catch the book as she let out an annoyed groan to which the doctor turned annoyingly, “It is rude to interrupt, now back to what I was saying. You see when you mentioned airtight underwater bubbles it made me think about an old test that would be used to help with things like trading with Maraqua, It was originally going to be used to send things like potions and supplies after Captain Scarblades devastating attack but the prototype was lost when The ship named Alexander of the Sea, After the captains youngest son who had a habit of leaving things like claw and beak marks in places like treasure marks, however, it was sent sinking to the bottom of the ocean…”A look of sadness filled the Hissi face as he pulled out a dark red leather back book with a single slash mark down the middle, “They say no one survived except those who reached the capsules. No one has found a single one of those in tack, and even then this ship crashed long before the fall of Faerieland.”

With a heavy sigh, the Gelert watched with worried eyes as the Eyrie trotted up to the Hissi and began to look closely at the book, and smile widely. He bit down on the book and ripped it from the doctor who shouted at him but was interrupted as the massive wings knocked him into the table as the blue griffin ran and dropped the book in front of the Gelert and put his paw on the metal bubble picture, “Caw!” he screamed encasing himself in his wings like a cocoon.

The Hissi scoffed as he saw the Eyrie but launched into a slew of harsh words as the Eyrie began to push books and papers off tables in a frivolous attempt to find something but was ignored as the Gelert read excerpts from the book. There was another slew of words but was replaced by a roar of anger as the Eyrie stabbed the tip of his beak into the book and pulled it down in a diagonal line. As the Hissi ripped the book from the Eyries paws his eyes widened and his wings shook as he let the book slip from his grip, “By Faerielands Might…” was all he could muster before the Gelert looked up to the Eyrie who had the book between his beak and trotted over to her holding it out for her. “You were in a bubble…” the Gelerts words were a hushed as she flipped to the cover of the book to reveal almost the exactly same jagged lines, “You are Alexander.”


End file.
